As fighting intensifies and more players join the battles in northeastern Syria, aid organizations are fleeing the violence in the face of a worsening humanitarian crisis.  VOA’s Heather Murdock has this report from the region.

Iraq’s leaders announced a new reform plan on Sunday following days of protests that have killed more than 100 people in less than a week. The cabinet met through the night Saturday in an effort to respond to protests that started on Tuesday in the capital Baghdad and quickly spread to other southern cities. The protests that started peacefully on Tuesday with protesters demanding jobs, better services and an end to widespread corruption became increasingly violent as the authorities used force to disperse protesters. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports.

In recent days, anti-government protests have engulfed Baghdad and some other cities in Iraq. Security forces have opened fire, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. A curfew has been imposed in the capital and the internet has been cut off in several regions. The United States has urged authorities to exercise restraint. As the country stands on the brink of descending once more into violence, there are fears of a return to sectarian conflict. Henry Ridgwell reports from a recent London conference on the uncertain future of Iraq.

For kids all over the world, the coming of Fall means the beginning of school year. For some children though, it is a reminder that they are far away from their own schools and homes. VOA’s Newroz Rasho visited children starting their school year in Shahba refugee camp near Afrin, Syria in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.

TUNIS, TUNISIA — Computer student Anes Nouri wants to launch a tech startup. Awatef Mosbeh, already has one: a smart children’s magazine available via a mobile phone app and focused on environmental and social issues.Both are holed up in a Tunis classroom one recent afternoon, staring at screens filled with a jumble of figures and letters, as they learn the basics of computer coding.Computer science student Anes Nouri, enrolled in the WeCode program, wants to launch a startup. (L. Bryant/VOA)Across Tunisia, jobless youngsters, including many college graduates, squander their days in coffee shops or homes, in a country where unemployment tops 30% in some places. The sluggish economy that ignited the North African country’s 2011 Jasmine Revolution, and later provided fertile ground for recruiting extremists, continues to limp along.Powering changeToday, a small army of young entrepreneurs is not waiting for their leaders to act. They are powering change through startups and grassroots NGOs. They are part of a broader civil society awakening since the 2011 ousting of long-time dictator, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.Wala Kasmi is hoping to channel youth's potential to change things. (L. Bryant/VOA)“Our education doesn’t match market needs, so we’re creating curriculums that are market oriented and respect diversity,” says Wala Kasmi, the 32-year-old founder of the digital training program in which Nouri and Mosbeh are enrolled.Mosbeh has a hard time finding qualified youngsters for her two companies, including the children’s magazine. “I don’t find the competencies,” she says, “and their parents are very conscious of that.”Supported by the International Labor Organization, the digital training program targets dozens of youngsters, most of them under 35. It is part of a broader movement Kasmi launched after the revolution, dubbed Youth Decides. Today, its membership of several thousand has spread beyond Tunisia’s borders, including to neighboring Libya.Young men are seen at a bus stop cafe in Tunis. Unemployment reaches 30 percent in some parts of Tunisia. (L. Bryant/VOA)“It’s frustrating when you see young people in the streets doing nothing,” she says. “If their potential is channeled, if they belong to the right incubator, the right community of thinkers and doers, they can do a lot.”Bread-and-butter issues top election agendaKasmi’s frustrations are widely shared. Jobs and other bread-and-butter concerns dominated the first round of presidential elections this month, a trend set to continue during October’s presidential runoff and legislative polls.And they were reflected in the first-round results, with two political outsiders ...

With football's World Cup championship in Qatar just over three years away, many migrant workers building the venues are still struggling to get paid and in some cases are returning home without receiving any wages after months or years of work, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group is calling on FIFA and the international community to put more pressure on Qatar to make meaningful reforms ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Henry Ridgwell reports.